Archbishop Lori’s Homily: A Salute to Pro-Life Ministries

More than a few times in my nearly 45 years of priesthood, I have met with women and couples who were contemplating an abortion. Almost without exception, these women and couples were deeply conflicted. Most experienced a very deep and real anguish. With the help of God’s grace, I tried to walk with them, to connect them with helpful pro-life medical services and ministries, and never to assume that I fully understood what they were going through. Some couples with whom I met received troubling pre-natal diagnoses. Others, especially unmarried women, were often victims of poverty and abuse. In almost every case, family members, friends, and medical professionals urged them to get an abortion as the “solution” to a “problem” child … a child who was likely to be born with an abnormality, or conversely, a perfectly healthy child who would be born into poverty and lack of equity. To many of them, it seemed that their only option was to have an abortion, but deep within, they knew it was a tragic choice with lasting consequences. What is needed so badly in all such situations is a witness to love and to life! ...